Chinese video platform Bilibili announced on Wednesday that it is implementing new rules (in Chinese) to combat the rise of hateful speech and inappropriate content on the platform.
Why it matters: This is another self-cleaning act from China’s video platform. Bilibili has made at least seven announcements to remove inappropriate content since January to comply with tightening content control from Chinese regulators.
Details: Bilibili said it had noticed an uptick of videos that make unethical jokes about the dead and attacks others based on their gender, occupation, and age. The platform said such disrespectful content is “plaguing the community.” Bilibili will start implementing the rules by deleting such content for the first month. After that, content creators will face account suspension if they continue to create such content.
- The new rules banned three main types of content. The first one is mocking death, sickness, and disability. The second is jokes about disasters and tragic social events. Last, is hateful content directed toward a particular gender group and other groups.
- The platform gave a few examples: videos making fun of tragic events such as the deaths of NBA star Kobe Bryant and former US President John F. Kennedy, and misogynistic and misandrist content.
Context: As of 2021, Bilibili had 271.7 million monthly active users and 10 million newly uploaded videos per month. The platform has become a thriving community for vloggers and fans of animation, comics, and games.
- Following Chinese regulators’ scrutiny of toxic and negative content online in January, Bilibili went through a large-scale content moderation to crackdown on content involving cyberbullying, softcore porn, online frauds, and others.